How to Make Nigiri Sushi

Basic
Setup

Nigiri means
grasped, or squeezed. This is the basic style
of the Edo stylesushi. The sushi rice
component of
the nigiri is called the shari, and the main ingredient is
called the neta.
The rice should
not
be squeezed too tightly, or too loose. Ideally, the rice
should
not fall apart when the sushi is picked up, but will easily fall apart
with
no effort when consumed.

While preparing any type of sushi the hands
must
always remain wet and cold to prevent heat transfer to the ingredients.
Ice water is set
nearby to
frequently cool the hands. It is also important to keep the hand
slightly wet,
so the sushi rice does not stick to your hands so after immersing both
hands in
ice water, tezu,
or diluted sushi rice vinegar is applied on the hands. This acts as a
sanitizer as well. A light
“clap” gets rid of
excess moisture.

Some main ingredients are harder to make
into a nigiri, since they
don’t stick
to the rice as easily, and some ingredients can be smaller. For this
reason, there are four
methods to make the nigiri.
The first couple of steps are the
same for all four types
of nigiri methods. (For left handed
people, please replace the left and right in the explanations)

Basic First Steps (Setup)

Hold the ingredient with your left hand by
lightly pinching it . Simultaneously, form
a ball of sushi
rice with your right hand. The sushi rice should be but loose at this
point.

Your hands should look like this
at this point. Now rub the wasabi
on your index
finger onto the ingredient.

Place the sushi rice onto the ingredient. With your right index finger
and
thumb, set the length of the sushi rice and with your left
thumb, press on
the center of the sushi rice to make a dimple.

This dimple is important for making
air pockets in the sushi rice to make
the finalized sushi
easy to fall apart in
the mouth.

Now
you are ready to move on to
any of these methods below, depending on your ingredient or nigiri style.

The side hand flip is the easiest
method of making nigiri
sushi. It
is used mainly for fish ingredients, since they easily stick with the
sushi
rice. This method creates the popular funazoko style nigiri.

The wrist flip is the fancy
variation of the
hand flip. It gets it name from a jujutsu
(now used in aikido)wrist lock, wherethe
wrist of the opponent is pushed towards them. The ingredients are
flipped in a similar movement of the wrist.

The vertical flip is used
for sushi
ingredients that are hard to stick to the rice, or may be disfigured if
it is
squeezed. Such ingredients are squid, octopus, egg, and sea eel. This
method creates the
fuazoko, or kushistyle nigiri.

The
original hand flip is an old method
of making nigiri sushi. This method
is the most beautiful form of making nigiri sushi. The hands literally
dance,
as the sushi is made and it is very entertaining to watch. The
old fashion tawara,
and jigami
style nigiri are
made with this method. Unfortunately, fewer and
fewer chefs practice this form these days since it is
difficult to master. There are extra steps involved, so
speed and accuracy is
absolutely necessary to keep the sushi from getting warm.